Be a pity if the thread degenerated into a Mil / Civ argument again - although the refrain that starts:
"
I don't know but I've been told.....Navy wings are made of gold..."
has always worked for me!
However, the point remains that different people make their choices and achieve a level of competence adequate for the job, and depending on the employer's training department, far more than that.
I think that the BALPA stance is in many ways accurate, and the comparison to the British Merchant Marine is accurate in very many respects. The problem is presentational. 'Pickets with Porsches', rightly or wrongly, is never going to win support. Personnel from a wide range of companies who have been shafted by BA management, (Dan, GSS, BACX etc etc) are unlikely to ever feel warm fuzzy feelings towards BA, particularly if they have met an arrogant 'me-first' Nigel who has apparently pinched their seat! Equally, people using emotive and rabblerousing generalisations about BA pilots cannot be too surprised if they get back similar in return.
The bottom line is that the Industry does not really permit a collective of pilots, and pilots by their nature are mainly 'me first' individuals. Humans are too, when you get right down to it. A normal human emotion is envy, be it of better Ts & Cs or whatever. BA pilots are no better, no worse, statistically than other group of pilots
There, I've said it. 
They do the same checks, they achieve the same standard, so it's a sine qua non that any extra money they get is because they have a strong union, not because they're better polers! (And I was a trainer with BACX, and I used to do their L/OPCs. Perfectly adequate, some dunces, no more stars than anyone else.)
Flying is pretty much a humdrum game, the systems are so reliable that there is a whole generation of "
The children of the magenta line" out there - fortunately the kit works more often than not. It's no surprise that most disasters are Eastern or Third world outfits, because no civil airline training takes you to the corners of the envelope explored by military training. Hence, when the going gets really really rough, the aircraft usually crashes and everyone dies. Exceptions being the BA 744 where the PF was ex mil and the DHL Bus that got totalled by the SAM.
Anyway, back to the point - unless UK pilots, and eventually all Western pilots stick together, the Western managements will stick it to the pilots. It's as reall as fish 'n chips.
The pilots will NOT stick together, hence Ts and Cs will slide
UNTIL the inevitable major accident in Western Europe.
Face facts boys. Willie may get the push, but a version of OS will happen, absolutely no doubt about it. Eastern European pilots will continue to happen, wasn't that JAR licence SUCH a good idea......
"
I don't know but it's been said - Air Force Wings are made of lead...."